Instituto de Geografía, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Valparaíso, Chile.
Instituto de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Austral, Edificio Pugin, Campus Isla Teja, Valdivia, Chile.
Ambio. 2018 Dec;47(8):835-845. doi: 10.1007/s13280-018-1043-x. Epub 2018 Mar 13.
The environmental, socioeconomic and cultural significance of glaciers has motivated several countries to regulate activities on glaciers and glacierized surroundings. However, laws written to specifically protect mountain glaciers have only recently been considered within national political agendas. Glacier Protection Laws (GPLs) originate in countries where mining has damaged glaciers and have been adopted with the aim of protecting the cryosphere from harmful activities. Here, we analyze GPLs in Argentina (approved) and Chile (under discussion) to identify potential environmental conflicts arising from law restrictions and omissions. We conclude that GPLs overlook the dynamics of glaciers and could prevent or delay actions needed to mitigate glacial hazards (e.g. artificial drainage of glacial lakes) thus placing populations at risk. Furthermore, GPL restrictions could hinder strategies (e.g. use of glacial lakes as reservoirs) to mitigate adverse impacts of climate change. Arguably, more flexible GPLs are needed to protect us from the changing cryosphere.
冰川的环境、社会经济和文化意义促使一些国家对冰川及其周围环境的活动进行规范。然而，专门保护山岳冰川的法律最近才被纳入国家政治议程。冰川保护法（GPLs）起源于那些因采矿而破坏冰川的国家，其目的是保护冰冻圈免受有害活动的影响。在这里，我们分析了阿根廷（已批准）和智利（正在讨论）的 GPLs，以确定法律限制和疏漏可能引发的潜在环境冲突。我们的结论是，GPLs 忽略了冰川的动态，可能会阻止或延迟缓解冰川灾害（例如人工排干冰川湖）所需的行动，从而使人们面临风险。此外，GPL 的限制可能会阻碍缓解气候变化不利影响的策略（例如利用冰川湖作为水库）。可以说，需要更灵活的 GPLs 来保护我们免受不断变化的冰冻圈的影响。
